RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Massachusetts >> Norfolk County >> Maple Ridge >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).

When in Maple Ridge, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Maple Ridge and the surrounding area.

  • Weather ...
  • Astronomy & Satellites ...
    • Whether using binoculars, a small telescope or the naked-eye, the Heavens-Above website can help you to find your way around the night-time sky. In addition to detailed sky charts, their website will help you find planets, asteriods, comets, satellites and their tracks across the sky.
    • To give accurate results, Heavens-Above requires the latitude and longitude of your location. As a starting point, when we link to Heavens-Above, we pass this GPS location for Maple Ridge:
    • 42.075097, -71.480061
    • Once you're on the Heavens-Above website, you can improve its accuracy by giving a more precise longitude and latitude as your actual position.
    • Open the Heavens-Above website centered on Maple Ridge
  • Bird Watching ...
    • We enjoy finding new spots for bird watching and we use the eBird website for local sighting reports and to help identify hotspots.
    • The eBird website is organized on a county-by-county basis. We have selected Norfolk County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Norfolk County
    • Since Maple Ridge is near Worcester County and also Providence County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Worcester County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Providence County
  • Waymarking ...
    • Looking for somewhere out of the ordinary? Find a unique place and want to share it with others? Then it's time to visit Waymarking.com:
    • Open the Waymark.com report for Maple Ridge

Communities Also Named Maple Ridge ...

We found fifteen communities that are also named Maple Ridge.

Within Massachusetts, the name Maple Ridge is unique.

Beyond Massachusetts, we know of fifteen communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these fifteen communities, eleven are located in the United States and six are in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • British Columbia
      • This Maple Ridge lies 2,462 miles [3,962.2 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Maple Ridge that is located in Norfolk County.
    • Georgia
      • Gwinnett County
      • This Maple Ridge is located in Gwinnett County and lies 881 miles [1,417.8 km]<1> to the southwest of the Maple Ridge that is located in Norfolk County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Gwinnett County community of Maple Ridge.
    • Illinois
      • Cook County
      • This Maple Ridge is located in Cook County and lies 837 miles [1,347 km]<1> to the west of the Maple Ridge that is located in Norfolk County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Cook County community of Maple Ridge.
    • Indiana
      • Marion County
      • This Maple Ridge is located in Marion County and lies 789 miles [1,269.8 km]<1> to the west of the Maple Ridge that is located in Norfolk County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Marion County community of Maple Ridge.
    • Maryland
      • Anne Arundel County
      • This Maple Ridge is located in Anne Arundel County and lies 343 miles [552 km]<1> to the southwest of the Maple Ridge that is located in Norfolk County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Anne Arundel County community of Maple Ridge.
    • Michigan
      • Arenac County
      • This Maple Ridge is located in Arenac County and lies 642 miles [1,033.2 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Maple Ridge that is located in Norfolk County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Arenac County community of Maple Ridge.
      • Delta County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Michigan community of Maple Ridge [Delta County].
    • Minnesota
      • Isanti County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Minnesota community of Maple Ridge [Isanti County].
    • New Brunswick
      • This Maple Ridge lies 349 miles [561.7 km]<1> to the northeast of the Maple Ridge that is located in Norfolk County.
    • Ohio
      • Mahoning County
      • This Maple Ridge is located in Mahoning County and lies 501 miles [806.3 km]<1> to the west of the Maple Ridge that is located in Norfolk County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Mahoning County community of Maple Ridge.
    • Ontario
      • This Maple Ridge lies 431 miles [693.6 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Maple Ridge that is located in Norfolk County.
    • Pennsylvania
      • Somerset County
      • This Maple Ridge is located in Somerset County and lies 407 miles [655 km]<1> to the west southwest of the Maple Ridge that is located in Norfolk County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Somerset County community of Maple Ridge.
    • Quebec
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Quebec community of Maple Ridge.
    • South Carolina
      • Berkeley County
      • This Maple Ridge is located in Berkeley County and lies 781 miles [1,256.9 km]<1> to the southwest of the Maple Ridge that is located in Norfolk County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Berkeley County community of Maple Ridge.
    • Wisconsin
      • Douglas County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Wisconsin community of Maple Ridge [Douglas County].

Curious and Interesting Names Near Maple Ridge ...

As we travel, we always see a community with a name that gives pause. While there are names which are interesting or familiar, some catch our attention or strike our fancy. We always wonder about such a name. If time permits and the community is not too far, we'll usually try to make a side-trip.

  • Benjamins Landing
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Benjamins Landing is located in Norfolk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benjamins Landing
  • Caryville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Caryville is located in Norfolk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caryville
  • Crooks Corner
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Crooks Corner is located in Norfolk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crooks Corner
  • Forest Park
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Forest Park is located in Norfolk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest Park
  • Franklin
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Franklin is located in Norfolk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Franklin
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 34,711 people
  • Hamlet
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Hamlet is located in Providence County (RI)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hamlet
  • Happy Hills
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Happy Hills is located in Norfolk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Happy Hills
  • Rakeville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Rakeville is located in Norfolk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rakeville
  • Rocky Hill
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Rocky Hill is located in Worcester County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Hill
  • Social
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Social is located in Providence County (RI)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Social
  • Unionville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Unionville is located in Norfolk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Unionville

How Far From Maple Ridge to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Maple Ridge to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Maple Ridge and extending to:

  • Dedham, which is the Seat of Norfolk County, lies 19 miles [30.6 km]<1> to the northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Maple Ridge to Dedham, with an average speed<3> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 hours.
  • Boston, which is the State Capital of Massachusetts, lies 29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast (NE). The buggy would take just over a day and walking would take just about two full days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 364 miles [585.8 km] to the southwest (SW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take 6 hours, a buggy would take 15 days and walking would take 21 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,532 miles [8,902.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,239 miles [10,040.7 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,115 miles [6,622.5 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Maple Ridge) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>If we encounter the name of what might be a community, our methodology is to add that name to our Gazetteer as a placeholder. As we find more information about that community, it will be added to our Gazetteer.

Just as a reminder: Our definition of a community is rather broad and includes those places (or areas) where several families lived and had a name which identified that place. For example, you might hear somebody say that they are going over to Bird Creek to see Pete ... Bird Creek is just a gas station and a couple of homes at the crossroads. While it might not be on the map, everybody in the area knows it by that name.

Places of interest include buildings at a crossroad, several families clustered in a hollow or maybe the location of a way station. It also includes places like mines, lumber camps, ferry crossings, etc. The community might still exist, is now gone or only existed for just a short period of time.

Also keep in mind that Maple Ridge could have been on the original document by mistake, misspelled, the original/alternate name of a community that we've listed elsewhere or was placed in the wrong county. Sometimes a post office or train station would have a different name than the community where it's located, so two names might be referring to the same community - we're working to straighten it all out.
<3>While we have tried to pick reasonable speeds, the rate of travel is very theoretical - obstacles like fences, hills, lakes, river crossings and rest stops have been ignored. When we say 'Days' of travel, we're assuming 8 hours of travel per day.
<4>The shortest line can be visualized by stretching a string on a Globe from Point A to Point B - this is known as a Great Circle Route. Where you might expect the shortest route from Maple Ridge to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Maple Ridge. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.0751, Longitude: -71.4801       In this case, the coordinates for Maple Ridge have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 304.269 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 299.853 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 300.904 degrees.